Courting the Enemy by Sherryl Woods (The Calamity Janes)

Karen Hanson's oldest friends, the Calamity Janes, urged her to sell her struggling ranch and pursue her lifelong dreams of travel. But the only bidder for her land was brooding, enigmatic Grady Blackhawk--her late husband's worst enemy. How could she sell the land to him? Then Grady set out to prove that he wasn't the scoundrel Karen thought him. Spending time with her drop-dead handsome adversary might cost Karen a lot more than her ranch. Because Grady was becoming less interested in claiming her land...and more intent on claiming Karen herself!

When Sherryl Woods's first novel was released in 1982, her former journalist colleagues spent a lot of time reading the sexy passages that were a far cry from the news reporting she had once done. One, shaking his head, turned to the newspaper's art director and said, "And you've been taking her bowling."But those steamy love scenes aren't the heart of the romance novel, Sherryl replied. Romances are about so much more. "They're about deep and abiding relationships, about finding a soul mate, about family and commitment and, yes, of course, about joyous, passionate sex."Well over 70 books later, however, this prolific author still believes that. It is why she continues to love the genre. In addition to her two popular mystery series and romances for other publishers, Sherryl has enjoyed phenomenal success with her books for Silhouette Special Edition, Silhouette Desire and MIRA Books.Originally from Arlington, Virginia, Sherryl graduated from Ohio State University with a degree in journalism and worked for several newspapers covering everything from suburban government to entertainment. Eventually specializing in television, she became the television editor for papers in Ohio and Florida. In 1980 she quit her work in news to write books, but again found herself in the workforce coordinating an employee program for eight thousand people at a major Miami trauma center. Two years later, her first romance was in print and publishers were clamoring for more. By 1986, she was writing full-time.Sherryl feels her natural talent for writing romance fiction stems in part from her previous work. "Journalism taught me to be concise and clear as a writer, but it also taught me to become a great observer of human nature."Though romances are her first love, this author has also proven adept in the mystery genre. Each of her fictional sleuths, Molly DeWitt and Amanda Roberts, were optioned for television, which brought Sherryl full circle to the medium she once covered.A member of Novelists, Inc., Sisters in Crime, and Mystery Writers of America, Sherryl also served as president of the guild for Miami City Ballet for three terms. She currently divides her time between her oceanfront home in Key Biscayne, Florida, and her childhood summer home on the river in Colonial Beach, Virginia, where she owns and operates her own bookstore "to keep in touch with the real people who matter in this business--the readers."